Trying to win in the spring

Published: Sunday, March 16, 2014 at 6:01 a.m.

Last Modified: Sunday, March 16, 2014 at 12:03 a.m.

"You don't win in the fall just by luck. You better win the battles in the spring personnel wise and coaching wise or you won't win in the fall," Parcells said.

Last week, we saw the opening battle of winning in the fall with the start of the NFLs' free agency, and the New Orleans Saints were major players in landing one of the elite defensive players available.

I am a big believer in that you build NFL teams structurally from the draft and use free agency as a means to fill obvious needs.

Under Sean Payton, the Saints have done well in free agency.

Quarterback Drew Brees has to go down as one of the top two free agent pickups in NFL history along with defensive end Reggie White leaving Philadelphia to go to the Green Bay Packers.

The Saints have also landed the likes of cornerback Jabari Greer, halfback Darren Sproles, inside linebacker Curtis Lofton, cornerback Keenan Lewis and safety Darren Sharper, the biggest impact player the team has ever had in one season/

What happened to him and the crimes he has been accused of darkens the memory of his 2009 season, but he was a special player in that Super Bowl run.

But within the first few hours of free agency, the Saints landed the most impactful free agent for the franchise since they signed Drew Brees in getting three-time Pro Bowl safety Jairus Byrd.

He was considered by many to be the best defensive free agent on the market and for the Saints he may be the missing piece defensively they have looked for since 2009 when Sharper was the playmaker and turnover catalyst.

Since 2009, Byrd has intercepted 22 passes, including 12 in the last three seasons.

The Saints former starting duo of Malcolm Jenkins and Roman Harper picked off six total in the past three years.

Byrd is a playmaker of the highest order, and he gives the Saints something special at the safety position teamed up with Kenny Vaccaro and Rafael Bush.

Saints defensive coordinator Rob Ryan loves to play the three-safety attack on defense, and he has one of the two best center-fielding free safeties in the game along with Seattle's Earl Thomas.

Last summer at the Ed Reed Football Camp, I asked the future hall of fame free safety and one of the greatest to ever play the position as to who today reminds him of himself.

Reed smiled and said "nobody, really", but he said that there two guys that stood out amongst the crowd.

"Right now of the younger guys, Thomas from Seattle looks like he is a special player and Jairus Byrd out in Buffalo," Reed said. "They play smart, but they also take chances based on their instincts to go after the ball. It's important to know what you are doing, but sometimes you just have to trust what you have seen and what you feel. They both are quarterbacks on defense. The way the game is today that free-safety position is as much value as a top pass rusher. If you don't have one, teams go after you over the middle. Teams don't do that to Seattle or Buffalo because of those two guys."

Now the Saints have one of the top two free safeties in the game, and they have one of the budding young superstars at strong safety in Vaccaro.

It's the football chess match to have people as good or in the same zip code as the best in the game, and right now it's Seattle with Thomas and Kam Chancellor. But the Saints now can match that duo and it opens up different things Ryan can do to put pressure on the quarterback because he trusts he has a player that will guard the deep middle and can go one-on-one downfield with a tight end or a receiver.

And it puts in full focus what I have said all of 2013, and that is if this team wins another Super Bowl in the Brees-era, it will be because of their defense and they have that in place now.

There is not another young front in the NFL that can match what the Saints have in Cam Jordan, Akiem Hicks, John Jenkins, Junior Galette, Victor Butler and Glenn Foster.

Now, throw in Vaccaro, Lewis and Jairus Byrd and the Saints can play some real serious defense.

Over a one year time frame, the Saints have retooled on defense and gotten younger, faster and more talented, but that meant getting rid of some defensive stalwarts that had helped you win a ton of games.

Now the retooling must start on offense.

There is a big hole to be filled at right tackle, and while negotiations have heated up between the Saints and tackle Zach Strief, it is in the highest priority for him to return to the team.

Strief is not a Pro-Bowl player, but he was the Saints most consistent offensive lineman in 2013. When the Saints started to run the ball well late, it was done by running predominately to the right side behind offensive guard Jahri Evans and Strief.

The Saints need to add a new tackle to the lineup also and this team has had a history of finding middle-round pick offensive linemen like Evans, Jermon Bushrod, Carl Nicks, Terron Armstead — who looks like a really good young prospect and — Strief.

They also need a center/guard prospect also.

In time, Tom Lelito looks like the future center, and with Brian de la Puente looking around in free agency, the Saints may have to have a bridge player like veteran Jonathan Goodwin, a former Saints starter who went to San Francisco in 2011, return for a year.

The middle rounds have been very kind to the Saints on draft day, and I suspect that format will continue.

But that leaves a huge void as the "speed" player to stretch a defense at wide receiver.

Sometimes we don't appreciate what a player does for a team, and that was the case in Devery Henderson. In Henderson's career with the Saints, he averaged 17.9 yards per catch and three times he averaged more than 20 yards per catch in a season.

He was the "nuclear" threat the Saints had, and you had to prepare for his deep speed.

Last season with Henderson gone and speedy Joe Morgan down for the season with a knee injury, that element was missing.

Matter of fact, most teams had no real fear of Saints receivers and concentrated their efforts to stop the one signature player offensively besides Brees in tight end Jimmy Graham.

The Saints need that type player to team up with Lance Moore's eventual replacement in a Kenny Stills, who looks like a really good NFL player and veteran Marques Colston.

That player will probably come early in the May draft along with another young cornerback even if they sign a veteran cornerback.

Wide receiver, a young offensive tackle, a young offensive guard/center, certainly someone who can help in the return game on special teams and a veteran and a young cornerback and some depth help at linebacker are next for the Saints either in free agency or the draft.

What is shaping up as the best shot to "Two-Dat" is quickly emerging for the Saints.

It's not just hype, but reality, as long as Brees can stay healthy in 2014. And everyone is trying to play football chess against the champs, the Seattle Seahawks.

ROBINSON CAN MAKE HISTORY

Since the AFL and NFL merged in 1967 and held a common draft, Thibodaux High School and Auburn offensive tackle Greg Robinson will emerge as the highest-drafted offensive lineman from the state of Louisiana.

The 6-foot-5, 320-pound Robinson could go as early as the second overall selection in the May draft.

LSU PROSPECTS RANK HIGH

In my ratings of the players available for the 2014 NFL draft, LSU has seven players rated in the top 100. They are:

--WR Odell Beckham, first round

--WR Jarvis Landry, second round

--QB Zach Metenberger, second round

--RB Jeremy Hill, third round

--DT Edo Ferguson, third round

--DT Anthony Johnson, third round

--OG Trai Turner, later third or early fourth round

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

"You never really know for sure, but I really think that Marqise Lee (USC), Brandin Cooks (Oregon State) and Odell Beckham (LSU) will be off the draft board by the time the Saints pick at No. 27. I would pick Vanderbilt wide receiver Jordan Matthews over Kelvin Benjamin from Florida State. He is no speed-burner type, but he is a superb route runner, smart to get into and out of his cuts and breaks, a natural catching the ball with his hands and while constantly getting coverage rotated to his side at Vanderbilt he was super productive," an AFC general manager said on the Saints' potential pick in the first round.

"(Mathews) has size and he is plenty fast enough. He reminds me so much of Reggie Wayne, a bigger version, but similar when he came out of Miami (Fla.). Benjamin is a risky pick. He has talent, but he has some lazy tendencies to him as a player and route runner. Matthews fits in what Sean Payton likes to do in New Orleans and he will play and play fast for whoever selects him," the general manager added.

<p>Pro Football Hall of Fame head coach Bill Parcells has a saying.</p><p>"You don't win in the fall just by luck. You better win the battles in the spring personnel wise and coaching wise or you won't win in the fall," Parcells said.</p><p>Last week, we saw the opening battle of winning in the fall with the start of the NFLs' free agency, and the New Orleans Saints were major players in landing one of the elite defensive players available.</p><p>I am a big believer in that you build NFL teams structurally from the draft and use free agency as a means to fill obvious needs.</p><p>Under Sean Payton, the Saints have done well in free agency.</p><p>Quarterback Drew Brees has to go down as one of the top two free agent pickups in NFL history along with defensive end Reggie White leaving Philadelphia to go to the Green Bay Packers.</p><p>The Saints have also landed the likes of cornerback Jabari Greer, halfback Darren Sproles, inside linebacker Curtis Lofton, cornerback Keenan Lewis and safety Darren Sharper, the biggest impact player the team has ever had in one season/</p><p>What happened to him and the crimes he has been accused of darkens the memory of his 2009 season, but he was a special player in that Super Bowl run.</p><p>But within the first few hours of free agency, the Saints landed the most impactful free agent for the franchise since they signed Drew Brees in getting three-time Pro Bowl safety Jairus Byrd.</p><p>He was considered by many to be the best defensive free agent on the market and for the Saints he may be the missing piece defensively they have looked for since 2009 when Sharper was the playmaker and turnover catalyst.</p><p>Since 2009, Byrd has intercepted 22 passes, including 12 in the last three seasons.</p><p>The Saints former starting duo of Malcolm Jenkins and Roman Harper picked off six total in the past three years.</p><p>Byrd is a playmaker of the highest order, and he gives the Saints something special at the safety position teamed up with Kenny Vaccaro and Rafael Bush.</p><p>Saints defensive coordinator Rob Ryan loves to play the three-safety attack on defense, and he has one of the two best center-fielding free safeties in the game along with Seattle's Earl Thomas.</p><p>Last summer at the Ed Reed Football Camp, I asked the future hall of fame free safety and one of the greatest to ever play the position as to who today reminds him of himself.</p><p>Reed smiled and said "nobody, really", but he said that there two guys that stood out amongst the crowd.</p><p>"Right now of the younger guys, Thomas from Seattle looks like he is a special player and Jairus Byrd out in Buffalo," Reed said. "They play smart, but they also take chances based on their instincts to go after the ball. It's important to know what you are doing, but sometimes you just have to trust what you have seen and what you feel. They both are quarterbacks on defense. The way the game is today that free-safety position is as much value as a top pass rusher. If you don't have one, teams go after you over the middle. Teams don't do that to Seattle or Buffalo because of those two guys."</p><p>Now the Saints have one of the top two free safeties in the game, and they have one of the budding young superstars at strong safety in Vaccaro.</p><p>It's the football chess match to have people as good or in the same zip code as the best in the game, and right now it's Seattle with Thomas and Kam Chancellor. But the Saints now can match that duo and it opens up different things Ryan can do to put pressure on the quarterback because he trusts he has a player that will guard the deep middle and can go one-on-one downfield with a tight end or a receiver.</p><p>And it puts in full focus what I have said all of 2013, and that is if this team wins another Super Bowl in the Brees-era, it will be because of their defense and they have that in place now.</p><p>There is not another young front in the NFL that can match what the Saints have in Cam Jordan, Akiem Hicks, John Jenkins, Junior Galette, Victor Butler and Glenn Foster.</p><p>Now, throw in Vaccaro, Lewis and Jairus Byrd and the Saints can play some real serious defense.</p><p>Over a one year time frame, the Saints have retooled on defense and gotten younger, faster and more talented, but that meant getting rid of some defensive stalwarts that had helped you win a ton of games.</p><p>Now the retooling must start on offense.</p><p>There is a big hole to be filled at right tackle, and while negotiations have heated up between the Saints and tackle Zach Strief, it is in the highest priority for him to return to the team.</p><p>Strief is not a Pro-Bowl player, but he was the Saints most consistent offensive lineman in 2013. When the Saints started to run the ball well late, it was done by running predominately to the right side behind offensive guard Jahri Evans and Strief.</p><p>The Saints need to add a new tackle to the lineup also and this team has had a history of finding middle-round pick offensive linemen like Evans, Jermon Bushrod, Carl Nicks, Terron Armstead — who looks like a really good young prospect and — Strief.</p><p>They also need a center/guard prospect also.</p><p>In time, Tom Lelito looks like the future center, and with Brian de la Puente looking around in free agency, the Saints may have to have a bridge player like veteran Jonathan Goodwin, a former Saints starter who went to San Francisco in 2011, return for a year.</p><p>The middle rounds have been very kind to the Saints on draft day, and I suspect that format will continue.</p><p>But that leaves a huge void as the "speed" player to stretch a defense at wide receiver.</p><p>Sometimes we don't appreciate what a player does for a team, and that was the case in Devery Henderson. In Henderson's career with the Saints, he averaged 17.9 yards per catch and three times he averaged more than 20 yards per catch in a season.</p><p>He was the "nuclear" threat the Saints had, and you had to prepare for his deep speed.</p><p>Last season with Henderson gone and speedy Joe Morgan down for the season with a knee injury, that element was missing.</p><p>Matter of fact, most teams had no real fear of Saints receivers and concentrated their efforts to stop the one signature player offensively besides Brees in tight end Jimmy Graham.</p><p>The Saints need that type player to team up with Lance Moore's eventual replacement in a Kenny Stills, who looks like a really good NFL player and veteran Marques Colston.</p><p>That player will probably come early in the May draft along with another young cornerback even if they sign a veteran cornerback.</p><p>Wide receiver, a young offensive tackle, a young offensive guard/center, certainly someone who can help in the return game on special teams and a veteran and a young cornerback and some depth help at linebacker are next for the Saints either in free agency or the draft.</p><p>What is shaping up as the best shot to "Two-Dat" is quickly emerging for the Saints.</p><p>It's not just hype, but reality, as long as Brees can stay healthy in 2014. And everyone is trying to play football chess against the champs, the Seattle Seahawks.</p><p>ROBINSON CAN MAKE HISTORY </p><p>Since the AFL and NFL merged in 1967 and held a common draft, Thibodaux High School and Auburn offensive tackle Greg Robinson will emerge as the highest-drafted offensive lineman from the state of Louisiana. </p><p>The 6-foot-5, 320-pound Robinson could go as early as the second overall selection in the May draft.</p><p>LSU PROSPECTS RANK HIGH</p><p>In my ratings of the players available for the 2014 NFL draft, LSU has seven players rated in the top 100. They are:</p><p>--WR Odell Beckham, first round</p><p>--WR Jarvis Landry, second round</p><p>--QB Zach Metenberger, second round</p><p>--RB Jeremy Hill, third round</p><p>--DT Edo Ferguson, third round</p><p>--DT Anthony Johnson, third round</p><p>--OG Trai Turner, later third or early fourth round</p><p>QUOTE OF THE WEEK</p><p>"You never really know for sure, but I really think that Marqise Lee (USC), Brandin Cooks (Oregon State) and Odell Beckham (LSU) will be off the draft board by the time the Saints pick at No. 27. I would pick Vanderbilt wide receiver Jordan Matthews over Kelvin Benjamin from Florida State. He is no speed-burner type, but he is a superb route runner, smart to get into and out of his cuts and breaks, a natural catching the ball with his hands and while constantly getting coverage rotated to his side at Vanderbilt he was super productive," an AFC general manager said on the Saints' potential pick in the first round.</p><p>"(Mathews) has size and he is plenty fast enough. He reminds me so much of Reggie Wayne, a bigger version, but similar when he came out of Miami (Fla.). Benjamin is a risky pick. He has talent, but he has some lazy tendencies to him as a player and route runner. Matthews fits in what Sean Payton likes to do in New Orleans and he will play and play fast for whoever selects him," the general manager added.</p><p>NFL analyst Mike Detillier is based in Raceland.</p>